Barney Lawsuits
The following is a list of lawsuits over the famed character Barney and his show over the years. Barney's I Love You Song In 1994, Warren Publishing, the publisher of "Piggyback Songs", filed a lawsuit against Lyons Partnership (the company that owns Barney), Time-Life Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. for copyright infringement using the "I Love You" song in the TV series without their permission. Lyons made a settlement with Lee Bernstein back in 1992 about using the "I Love You" in the TV series. Barney Live! In New York City, Barney's Imagination Island and Barney's Favorites Vol. 2 didn't have this song, because of the lawsuit going on. However in the PBS Special Barney Celebrates Children, "I Love You" was finally sung after the lawsuit ended in the same year. Barney v. San Diego Chicken In the same year when Warren Publishing sued Lyons Partnership for using the I Love You song, comedy sketches of The San Diego Chicken during professional sporting events began to include scenes of the Chicken beating up a dinosaur character. Lyons Partnership began sending letters to Ted Giannoulas, who portrays the Chicken, demanding that he stop the alleged violation of Lyons' rights on the Barney character. These threats did not stop the mock battles between the Chicken and Barney. On 8 October 1997, Lyons filed lawsuit in Fort Worth, Texas federal district court against Giannoulas, claiming copyright and trademark infringement and further claiming that such performances would confuse children. In his case, Giannoulas cited that the purple dino was a "symbol of what is wrong with our society--an homage, if you will, to all the inane, banal platitudes that we readily accept and thrust unthinkingly upon our children", that his qualities are "insipid and corny", and that he also explains that, in an article posted in a 1997 issue of The New Yorker, he argues that at least some perceive Barney as a "pot-bellied," "sloppily fat" dinosaur who "giggles compulsively in a tone of unequaled feeble-mindedness" and "jiggles his lumpish body like an overripe eggplant." This court agreed with Giannoulas, and ruled against Lyons on 29 July 1998, declaring the sketches to be a parody that did not infringe on the rights of the character that Lyons created. Lyons appealed this ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, but again lost their case to Giannoulas on 7 July 1999. Barney v. EFF The Electronic Frontier Foundation hosted online archives from the Computer Underground Digest that contained Barney parody material. In 2001, Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, LLP, lawyers for Lyons Partnership, issued a threat letter to EFF claiming infringement of the Barney character. EFF strongly defended itself against these claims citing the established defence of parody, backed by United States First Amendment protections. As of November 29, 2006, the EFF successfully defended an anti-Barney website from a lawsuit. An article in British publication The Register applauded the victory. Barney v. CyberCheeze Around 2001, Olympia, Washington-based comedy website CyberCheeze posted a work entitled "150 Ways to Kill the Purple Dinosaur". Lyons threatened legal action in response, and CyberCheeze replied on their site that the threat was "about as intellectual as the purple quivering mass of gyrating goo you call Barney, but that it also is demeaning to everyone that visits our website and reads this worthless attempt and scare tactic".